We, the members of the Child Helpline International network of child helplines, reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the rights and wellbeing of children and young people worldwide, on this occasion of the 11th International Consultation of Child Helplines in Livingstone, Zambia, June 2025.
Guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, various regional child rights instruments, and the Sustainable Development Goals, we recognize the indispensable role of child helplines in safeguarding these rights. We are inspired by the courage and resilience of children and young people, especially their bravery in reaching out to child helplines to share their worries, experiences, and to ask for help. We feel a deep responsibility to honour their trust by amplifying their voices, using them to inform our programming, and making them heard by those with the power to inspire, lead, and implement meaningful change.
In the face of evolving challenges – including the mental health crisis and its impacts on children and young people around the world, violence against children and online harms – we acknowledge the urgent need to strengthen and expand child helpline services globally.
Our Commitments
1. Universal Access to Child Helplines
We commit to ensuring that every child and young person has access to a national, toll-free, multi-channel (where appropriate), 24/7 child helpline service. Recognizing that children and young people in over 50 countries currently lack such essential services, we pledge to engage with governments and policymakers, international organizations and donors, civil society and community leaders, and the technology and telecommunications sectors, to establish child helplines where none yet exist and strengthen existing ones, ensuring they are accessible across the communication channels used most by children and young people.
2. Child and Youth Participation
We will actively seek out and encourage the participation and engagement of children and young people in all initiatives pertaining to the development and operation of child helplines.
3. Prioritizing Mental Health and Wellbeing
Acknowledging the largest child and youth mental health crisis in decades, exacerbated by global political uncertainties and societal pressures, we commit to enhancing the capacity of child helplines to provide immediate psychological and/or psychosocial support, guidance and referrals. We will advocate for the integration of mental health services within national child protection systems, promote early intervention strategies and recognize the importance of youth mental health in the global brain economy.
4. Combatting Violence Against Children
Recognizing that violence in all its forms – physical, sexual, psychological and neglect – continues to affect millions of children and young people globally, we reaffirm our role in prevention, early detection and response. We will work to strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration, ensuring that child helplines are well-equipped to provide comprehensive support, including counselling and referrals to legal aid and social services.
5. Addressing Online Harms
In an increasingly digital world, shaped by rapid technological advances, we are committed to protecting children and young people from online risks such as cyberbullying, exploitation and abuse, and exposure to harmful content. We will enhance the digital capabilities of child helplines, provide specialized training to staff, and collaborate with technology companies to harness innovation and create safer online environments.
6. Harmful Traditional Practices
We reaffirm our commitment to ending harmful practices affecting children globally, including child marriage, female genital mutilation and child labour.
7. Upholding Human-Centred Care in the Age of AI
As the ongoing AI revolution is rapidly transforming every aspect of our lives, we will advocate for the ethical and responsible use of these technologies within child protection systems and child helplines; where AI must be developed with a safety-by-design approach that prioritizes transparency, accountability and the best interests of children and young people. While AI presents clear risks, it also offers significant opportunities to enhance children’s wellbeing, and improve empathetic crisis support, service delivery and organizational development at child helplines. We will advocate for the careful integration and regular evaluation of AI tools to ensure they enhance child safeguarding rather than compromise it. We will actively collaborate with the tech industry to ensure that AI is used to complement and reinforce, but not replace, the vital protective role of trained professionals and volunteers. We will harness AI as a tool to explore the creation of a community-based social protection platform.
We reject all forms of war and aggression, and demand that leaders seek peaceful resolution to conflicts.
Calls to Action
To Governments and Policymakers:
- Recognize child helplines as critical frontline services within national frameworks to protect children.
- Allocate sustainable funding to establish and maintain child helpline services.
- Implement policies that ensure universal access to child helplines, including the adoption of regional harmonized numbers, and promote awareness campaigns to educate the public about these services.
- Systematically utilize data from child helplines to inform the development of laws, policies, special reports, and investments in child protection.
- Include dedicated sections and data from child helplines in reports aimed to monitor the fulfilment of child rights submitted to the international bodies such as the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Council of Europe and others.
- We call upon regional bodies, and partners to urgently scale up efforts to eliminate harmful practices against children. We urge governments to invest in national child helplines as critical frontline services, invest in child helplines’ capacity to protect every child’s right to safety, dignity and wellbeing, to ensure enforcement of protective laws, and to support community-led approaches that challenge harmful social norms.
To International Organizations and Donors:
- Support initiatives aimed at expanding child helpline services globally, with a special focus in underserved regions.
- Support child helpline initiatives aimed at expanding their reach to the most marginalized children, including those with disabilities, affected by conflict, without access to digital tools, children on the move, or facing intersecting forms of discrimination.
- Facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity-building programmes to enhance the effectiveness of child helplines.
To Civil Society and Community Leaders:
- Engage in outreach and education efforts to raise awareness about the availability and importance of child helplines.
- Collaborate with child helplines to identify and address local challenges affecting children and young people.
To the Technology and Telecommunications Sectors:
- Partner with child helplines to develop and implement technological solutions that enhance service delivery and data protection.
- Ensure that communication services are free and accessible for children and young people seeking help.
- Be active in protecting children and young people and their data, and in supporting child helplines.
- Support child helplines in integrating AI and other new technologies into their services, data collection and communication.
Conclusion
This Livingstone Declaration builds upon previous commitments, pledges and undertakings outlined in the Stockholm Declaration of 2022, Bangkok Declaration of 2016 and Durban Declaration of 2012, and other Regional Declarations.
We, the undersigned, adopt this Livingstone Declaration as a testament to our collective resolve to protect and empower children and young people. We pledge to transform these commitments into concrete actions, ensuring that every child’s voice is heard, valued and acted upon.
Adopted in Livingstone, Zambia, June 2025
Signatories on behalf of the Child Helpline International network:
Michael Marwa
Regional Representative, Africa
Alisa Simon
Regional Representative,
Americas & The Caribbean
Madhav Pradhan
Regional Representative,
Asia-Pacific
Piji Protopsaltis
Regional Representative,
Europe
Ohaila Shomar
Regional Representative,
MENA
